TWD: White Chocolate Brownies

I love raspberries. Seriously. They are by far my favorite fruit. They are so delicious, sweet, and tart. I could eat them every day if I could. When I first bought the book Baking from My Home to Yours, I spent hours poring over the pages, imagining what it would be like to make some of the recipes. I particularly remember oogling the picture associated with this recipe. White chocolate and raspberry. What a delicious and wonderful pairing. So when I saw that this was the recipe for this week, I was...what do they call it...drooling, I mean, excited.

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Marthe of Culinary Delights. Be sure to check her site for this yummy recipe.

So have I made it clear that I love raspberries?

Well guess what...no raspberries here. I cannot recall one time when I have ever seen them here. I was/am sooooo disappointed.

Cocoa Brownies

I am always on the look out for easy, fast, but yummy dessert recipes because you just never know when the urge is going to hit or the need is going to arise for something sweet, and you don't always have time to wait for butter to soften.

Brownies from scratch are generally pretty easy to begin with, but I like this recipe because the main ingredient is cocoa rather than chocolate. Around here I can buy cocoa by the barrel load, but all my chocolate has to be bought in candy bar form with candy bar price. So needless to say, I have more cocoa laying around than chocolate.

Twofer TWD: Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts and Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

Lucky lucky you! You get two Tuesdays with Dorie for one! Yipee!

So let's start with last week: Last week's TWD was Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts chosen by Kristin of I'm Right About Everything. (Great blog title, huh?)

And this week: This week's TWD was Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic.

TWD: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

Today's Tuesday with Dorie is a great combination of cheesecake a brownie, chocolate and coffee. It was chosen by Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell. Check out her blog for the recipe. Be sure to check out the other TWD bakers to see how theirs turned out.



I decided, like usual, to make it for Jacob's work, so instead of baking it in a 9x9 pan, I used doubled the recipe and put it in my large jelly roll pan. This produced a thinner than intended bar, but I think the proportions turned out well.


I realized later that the point where I poured the cheesecake mixture in made the brownie spread away to almost nothing, so if I did it again, I would pour small amounts around the pan.

I also didn't do the sour cream topping. I was going to, and I had grand dreams of piping fleur di lis on them to make them classy and creamy, but... I made this right before I left for my parents house and I simply did not have the time to do it without missing my plane. I made these early because I'm trying to get it all ready for when I move to Libya in one week exactly. I don't know how I'm going to bake over there, and I expect that it might take me a little time to figure that out, so I'm trying not to fall behind.


Also, as a result of barely getting them made, I didn't get to try them. It's quite a bummer because based on my husband, his coworkers, and other TWDers, it seems like a missed out on a scrumptious treat. I guess I'll just have to drool over the pictures until I get to make it again.

TWD: Brownie Buttons

Today's Tuesdays with Dorie was Brownie Buttons, chosen by Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen. Check her blog out for the recipe, and check out these for more creations.

These little things were a cinch to whip up, and I decided to go literal with the name. What do you think?

Brownie Buttons! I dabbed a little chocolate to make the button holes, and I think it turned out quite cute.

This recipe makes 16 little brownies, and it seems like it would be very easy to double or triple.

The hardest part was probably the dipping in the white chocolate because there isn't much to grip. Also, making a pretty swirl is not so easy either. But if you decorate with button holes, no one knows!

So take 15 minutes and make these!

Brownies and the Biscotti that got me a job

So amazingly enough, I've fallen behind again. This is the post for the stuff I brought to Jacob's workplace last week. Ridonkulous, I know.

First off, we have Brrownies, which are basically brownies with York Peppermint Patty pieces thrown in. Sticky gooey and delicious. And again, they are from Baking from My Home to Yours.






The recipe said to fold the peppermint pieces in, but that resulted in some pieces at the bottom of the brownies, which then proceeded to fuse to the foil I had covered my pan with. Also, having some of the pieces on top ended up in a marshmallow like goop on top. So to avoid both of these problems, I would suggest putting down half of the brownie mixture in your pan, sprinkling the pieces of York, then covering with the other half of the batter.

Whether it was a pain to get out of the pan, they were worth it. See for yourself.

Going............................................going...................................gone!



I sacrificed so that these pictures could be taken. How noble is that?


Next, I made Lennox Almond Biscotti. And they were an unexpected hit. I got requests for them again. That's the first time that's happened since baking for Jacob's work.


And besides being requested, I got an offer to make a birthday cake for a 3-year-old birthday party. Like a real life client and everything. I've never done it before, but it is my dream to be doing this some day, so I accepted. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out with that.


But so that you can meet with as much success as I did, I'll include the recipe.

Lennox Almond Biscotti
from Baking from My Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract (maraschino cherries...mmm)
3/4 cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

Center ad rack in the oven and preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silcone mat.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk again to blend.

Wokring with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar togethre at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as need, for another 2 minutes, or until the mixtrue is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. You'll have a soft stick-to-your-fingers dough tha twill ball up around the paddle or beaters. Scrape down the paddle and bowl, toss in the almonds and mix just to blend.

Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers and arubber spatula or scraper, work the dough in to a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The log will be more rectagular than domed, and bumpy, rough and uneven. Form a second log with the remaining dough on the other side of th baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes, or utnil the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. (This took me longer than 15 minutes, probably closer to 25.) Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

If you turned off the oven, bring it back up to 350 degrees F.

Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and, with a long serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices. (I cut mine a little thinner.) Return the slices to the baking sheet--this time standing them up like a marching band--and slide the sheet back into the oven.

Bake the biscotti for antoher 15 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to rack and cool to room temperature.

Happy Baking!